Survive
by dullahan21
Summary: Befriending the enemy is dangerous in times of war when a human and a Sleg must rely on each other to survive and escape the Shadowed Lands.
1. Chapter 1

**NOTES: Partly inspired by the songs "White Knuckles" by Alter Bridge (mainly the chorus) and "Survive" by Rise Against.**

**DISCLAIMERS: the Turok video games belong to Acclaim Entertainment.**

* * *

The Shadowed Lands, known as one of the darkest places in the Lost Land, had fallen quiet again after a long battle in the sky. Numerous trees had been toppled over from being crushed by falling aircraft. Small fires had ignited in the bushes and conifers. Deceased bodies from both sides of the struggle lay scattered across the grounds. Predators would arrive soon to prey on the remains.

From one of the airships emerged a lone survivor, pushing the dislodged door aside to escape. A shallow cut crossed her forehead, cuts from glass lined her arms and legs, her skin was stained from the smoke, and her lungs felt as if they were ablaze along with the ship. Despite her injuries, she managed to step out of the vessel and move several yards away before she collapsed to the ground and sat up to observe the airship from a distance.

She could already tell the ship would be unable to be repaired if it were found by a rescue and recovery team. The flames were rising higher as the seconds passed, and as a result, the smoke blackened and could not even be seen through. Based on this, and by the time that had passed, she doubted anyone else was still alive. She would join them if she didn't move away from the impending explosion.

She slowly stood up, balancing her weight equally on both legs. She relieved some of the stress by placing a hand against a tree to steady herself. She felt sharp aches racing throughout her body, felt as if she were going to either crumple again, get sick, or faint. She held herself together and began to stumble away from the airship.

The jungle was too humid, but the leaves helped to keep the sun from shining directly on her. The density of the trees made it difficult for her to plan where to go next. There were no paths for her to follow, as humans tended to stay far from these Lands. As she traveled, she considered herself lucky she didn't run into any predators, only passing by insects and harmless herbivores.

Eventually, she was able to walk on her own without the support of the tree trunks. She approached a clearing of a waterfall descending into a rather quiet lake. She made her way around a herd of stegosaurs, trying not to startle them. She was at a disadvantage in her condition if they decided to panic and stampede.

She reached the lake and knelt down by the edge. She cupped a handful of water and brought it up to her lips, hoping it somehow soothed her burning lungs. Once her thirst was satisfied, she repeated the first motion, and instead of drinking the water, she rinsed her face, reiterating the action until she felt her face was decently clean. She did the same to clear her neck, arms, and legs, doing her best to wash away the soot, blood, and dirt, ignoring the pain of the stings.

She suddenly felt as if something were crawling along her spine, as if she were being watched. She looked ahead of her across the lake, to her left and right. She turned to look behind her, her eyes scanning the bushes and trees carefully. She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

That is, until she realized how silent it was, so silent she could hear her own soft breathing, her heartbeat, the ringing of her ears. The stegosaur herd seemed rather restless as well. She watched as the adults gathered around their young and guided them away, leaving the woman alone.

Her uneasiness was growing, made worse by the fact that she was unarmed. She was defenseless except for her bare hands, which were no help against most creatures of the Shadowed Lands. She took a deep breath to settle her nerves and quickly finished her rinse before she stood and staggered back into the forest.

* * *

She estimated that five hours had passed, and not much had happened.

She still had the distressed feeling that something was watching her, following her until the right moment to make their presence known. She continued to ache from the cuts and bruises. To add to that, she was hungry and tired; to her displeasure, she hadn't found anything edible, and she didn't dare stop and rest yet.

On the upside, she was now armed for the moment, carrying a spear she'd carved with a rock. She'd climbed a tree and held still and silent, keeping a close watch on the shadows. Earlier, she had heaved a sigh of relief as a pack of raptors wandered by under the tree without detecting her proximity.

No matter how secure she tried to make herself feel, however, she couldn't rid herself of the feeling that she was being relentlessly stalked, like whoever or whatever it was could see her even up here.

By now, the sun was beginning to set. The drowsy sense in her eyes was increasing, and she was in danger of falling out of the tree and gaining additional injuries. Where she was now, and alone without medical supplies, she couldn't afford such a thing. She just had to find somewhere to rest, maybe it would lessen the hurts.

Her body had stiffened from staying in one place for an extended time as she'd sat in the branches. Climbing was usually no problem for her, but this time, she had more trouble getting down from the tree than she had going up. Her muscles strained in protest, but she managed, and her feet touched ground again with no incident.

She glanced around, taking note of the persistent lull. She was almost sure by now that there were predatory eyes focused exclusively on her. She reminded herself she needed to find some sort of cover for shelter before nightfall and before said predator decided to attack.

It seemed like hours had progressed before she reached a range of hills. It was an effort to climb a cluster of boulders to reach higher ground. She made it up in what she guessed was fifteen or twenty minutes. She heaved her body over the edge of the topmost rock and pulled herself to her feet.

She took a trail to the right, where she noticed a small opening in one of the rocks. It didn't look comfortable at all, restricted and in combat with her fear of closed spaces. Under the circumstances, though, she convinced herself it was better than being exposed out in the open.

She knelt down and peered inside. She couldn't see well because of the fading sunlight; from what she could see, there didn't appear to be any animals that had already claimed the opening as a nest. So she crouched lower and maneuvered herself into the hollow.

She'd been right in assuming that it wasn't comfortable, but at least her back was covered; the only thing to worry about was what lay ahead of her.

* * *

She started moving right away when the glare of the sunlight woke her the next morning. The stings racked her muscles, and the hunger pangs clawed at her stomach. She knew she needed food and medical supplies soon; she wasn't sure about the latter, but her spear would come in use for the former.

The woman was surprised when she discerned that she still felt the menacing sensation of being pursued. She had to wonder if it was a predatory animal, and if it was, she made a mental note to keep her guard up at all times as she proceeded through the Shadowed Lands. It could also be another survivor, and if it was, why were they hiding?

She got her answer sooner than she wanted.

The dead silence of the jungle was interrupted by the telltale sound of a twig snapping.

She whipped around, expecting a confrontation, but still didn't see anything threatening. That didn't mean she was alone. She could be surrounded by a pack of raptors for all she knew, about to be ambushed any second.

She told herself to stay calm, not to panic, to push away her negative thoughts; if she wanted to survive, she'd need to keep her wits, confidence, and an optimistic view in the front of her mind.

She held up her spear at the ready, prepared for the worst, prepared to battle a ravenous pack of raptors, or worse.

The sound of a _click _was heard behind her. She turned around again, and the spear was instantly knocked out of her hands. She watched as it landed a few yards away from her, out of sight, out of reach.

She turned her attention forward to find herself staring into the barrel of a rifle only inches from her face.

Standing at the other end of the rifle, the opposite of all she'd expected, was an injured and infuriated Sleg.


	2. Chapter 2

She felt her blood run cold, felt her heart beat accelerate, felt obvious realization that the reason she'd felt like someone was watching her was that it had been this Sleg following her the entire time.

Her initial reaction was to take a deep breath to stay calm, fight back the anxiety. Next, she slowly raised her hands in surrender, hoping the Sleg would take mercy on her; the last thing she wanted right now was a violent confrontation while she was unarmed. She was bold enough to keep direct eye contact, but she didn't push her luck by speaking, waiting for her enemy to talk first.

He looked awful, worse than she, cuts and bruises covering most of his body. There was a deep gash in his left shoulder, which was wrapped in what appeared to be spider silk, material that had helped to stop most of the bleeding for now. Most prominent was the third-degree burn on his right arm, most of the skin blackened and inflamed. She had no doubt he was suffering, but he was doing well to keep his composure and hide whatever pain he was in.

Still, he kept the usual Sleg demeanor. He stood tall, taller than that of most of his sniper species, around 5'6", she guessed. His posture was straight, and with the threat he held against her, he somehow towered over her own 5'1". His face was lined with a scowl, his eyes a dark glare. Adding to that the gun aimed at her, the woman didn't show it, but she couldn't help but to be intimidated.

The Sleg's guttural voice was rough yet calm as he commanded, "Down on your knees."

She obeyed, keeping her hands up, lowering herself to her knees. The Sleg ordered, "Identify yourself."

"My name is Kira," she answered serenely. "I'm a co-pilot for the military."

"Do you have any other weapons?" he demanded.

"None," she replied, glancing over to where her spear had disappeared.

"Are there any other human survivors?"

"No, just me."

She tried not to think of her now-deceased comrades; her thoughts were abruptly driven far away from that, as the Sleg seemed to make up his mind about something, deciding then that she was of no use to him. He pressed the muzzle of the rifle against her forehead and prepared to pull the trigger. Panic took control of her, and she burst out, "Wait!"

The sniper paused, but kept the gun in place. She wasn't going to go so far as to beg for her life, she was too proud for that, so she came up with a quick plan instead. It wasn't the best scheme she had, but it was better than nothing. "Listen, we can help each other."

His eyes narrowed; despite her words, he didn't trust her any more than she trusted him, and he instantly suspected her of trying to distract him in order to execute a surprise attack. "What do you mean?"

She sighed and explained, "Look, this is the Shadowed Lands. We don't belong here. So of course we need to get out as soon as possible."

"Get to the point, human," the Sleg snapped with an insistent push of the rifle against the woman's forehead.

She flinched, but continued, "Okay, well, there's no possible way to survive here alone for long, so why don't we find some way to work together?"

The Sleg was silent, considering her proposal, and she thought, 'Hell, is this really going to work?' Out loud, she resumed, "This will just be until we reach the bridge. Once we've done that, you can kill me if you want."

She didn't mean that, of course. She would figure out some way to either escape or kill him first. She just needed some way to convince him to go along with her, keep him occupied long enough for her to form a counter plot. Knowing the low opinion Slegs had of humans, she was sure the thought of the chance to kill her would sound like a good deal to him. Besides, it would be beneficial to her, too.

It seemed to be working, fortunately. He pulled the rifle away from her head, but still kept it aimed at her. "Just until we're out."

"Right," she agreed. "Like I said, as soon as we make it across the bridge, you are free to kill me if you please."

He took a moment to contemplate her suggestion, admitting to himself that she did offer a fair point. If there had been a second Sleg survivor, they would have robbed and murdered this human and been on their way. However, he was the only one left and he knew he couldn't survive on his own; he had his rifle and a knife in his pocket, but with the number of predators in these Lands, it wouldn't take long for him to run out of ammunition. He was left with no other alternative but to form a temporary alliance with this human.

Not that he had to like it. Not that he was willing to put any trust in her. Not that he couldn't see straight through her, and didn't know that she would be conspiring against him the entire journey, therefore he would be doing the same in retaliation before they reached the bridge.

At last, he stepped back and lowered the gun. He felt the woman watching his every move as he crossed the clearing and picked up the spear from where it had landed in the bushes. He moved back over to where he'd originally stood, tossed the spear to the human, who caught it, and he snapped, "Stand up."

She followed the order, rising to her feet. He studied her expression, taking note of the well-disguised fear, apprehension, caution. Still, he wasn't fooled; beneath that, there was the cunning, clever, and deceptive mind he knew humans possessed just as capable as his own race. Others of his kind might think of the enemy as rather stupid, but he knew better, and he reminded himself not to let his guard down for even a second while he was stranded here with her.

He allowed a minute for a silent stare-down between them before he spoke, keeping eye contact, his tone still threatening. "My name is Rowan, and that's all you need to know. You will stay within my sight at all times, so you will be leading the way through this place. Lastly, this is your only warning, human: one wrong move-" he held up the rifle and tapped her forehead twice "-you're dead. Understand?"

"I understand," she agreed.

"Any questions?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Good." He gestured to the forest ahead of them. "Lead the way, then."


End file.
